[quote=“Brambler”]… My question for the board: Since the Extreme IIs haven’t been recommended officially, what's the next-best thing? Looks like I might still be able to buy an Extreme first-gen from B&H. Any others?

Thanks,

Peter[/quote]

I think the next best thing may be to look at the Digistor SSDs. They were used in the Blackmagic BMCC and BMPC4K cameras at NAB 2013 and the Digistor site tests them using the BMCC I believe. They are a little more costly than the Sandisk but in the ballpark.

There are some questions on this board about the Sandisk Extreme II 480gb drives. I thought I'd chip in with my recent experience:

Just unboxed a brand-new BM Cinema Camera and a brand-new Sandisk Extreme II 480gb unit. Attached the included shim so that the drive fits the enclosure. Formatted the drive per instructions on my Mac and began test-shooting under ideal conditions (no extreme temperature, no blockage of fan, etc).

About 50% of the time I get dropped frames shooting RAW. (REC light starts blinking, visible skipping on playback)No dropped frames shooting ProRes.

My question for the board: Since the Extreme IIs haven't been recommended officially, what's the next-best thing? Looks like I might still be able to buy an Extreme first-gen from B&H. Any others?

Thanks,

Peter

Hi Peter

Are you sure its the drives? I think there has been some issues with mac formatting and I believe you need to reformat after every use. There are others who know more than me who can hopefully step in.

I'd rather have a couple 120's than a single 240+, especially since I'm using Light Iron's server and want every to see takes frequently.

I've had good luck with my 500gb EVO. Keep in mind, I think the lower capacity drives are a little slower than the higher capacity drives. If you look at the link I posted below, you will see the 120gb drives are only rated for 410mb/s, which as far as I know, won't handle raw footage. Also note that these are 7mm drives, rather than 9.5mm drives, so you will need a spacer if you want it to fit snugly. I used 2.5mm plexiglass and taped it to the back of the drive, no problems, but you won't be able to run it without a spacer.

Check this out, the link posts a lot of info you should know. Add a "www." to the beginning of it.

One might also look into the At**os list of not recommended drives (at the bottom of the page):Discovery what Drives

It is interesting that they do not recommend the Crucial M4, Intel 330 & 520 and some OCZs.Comment for the Crucial M4: "After many formats reliability drops, this drive is not always detected in the Recorder."

They do recommend highly the SanDisks Extreme & Extreme II.

I might also add, that personally I had good success with the Samsung 840 series, just had to make its case a bit thicker by sticking some foam onto it.

Brambler wrote:My question for the board: Since the Extreme IIs haven't been recommended officially, what's the next-best thing? Looks like I might still be able to buy an Extreme first-gen from B&H. Any others?

Thanks,

Peter

I would also think the Plextor M5Pro / Extreme should be a good performer. I think it is only available in the US and Canada currently. Has quite consistent read/write time on clean and used drives and using incompressible data. 128 GB or 256 GB or 512 GB.

Benjamin Brown wrote:I have been using the Extreme II 240GB for a month or so. Shot every format except DNxHD. It has been a solid performer.

The question about the shim is simple. It sticks on and slides in. I hope that clears it up.

I've attached an image. The tape is on the SSD for my reference of used or clean. I believe I borrowed the idea from a Frank Glencairn post. Thanks for that. The black tape on the end is a handle. My fingers won't fit inside the tiny area to remove the drive.

i use a Samsung 250gb and 500gb SSD EVO and it works great for compressed and uncompressed Raw video so it's cheap and works great the ssd is just a bit small so you need to adapt from 7mm to 9mm i use tape it worked great !

The Samsung 840 EVO 1 TB is very tempting. I know some people are hesitant about using high capacity SSDs, but i remember the same being said for SD cards and CF cards. 1 TB is more then enough space for DNxHD or ProRes and if you are shooting something Raw it would be nice to have to worry less about running out of space. When the firmware releases that indicates the remaining space on a card then a high capacity card would not look as enticing.

oh this is only for the 4K? darn, i got my 2.5K a few weeks ago and am eager to try it out but i don't know what SSD to get. anyone have a good recommendation (money isn't an issue) for one that will work with an apple computer?

I know the Sandisk Extreme II's are not on the recommended list, so I'm not recommending anyone buy based on this report. Simply, I thought I'd share my experience with the Extreme II's.

I bought a 480 GB Extreme II SSD at a good price during a Cyber Monday sale, figuring I'd use it in my computer if it didn't work on my BMCC EFs.

Arrived a couple of days ago. I put it into my BMCC, which I had bought in March. This BMCC had its original firmware (v 1.2 or 1.3 - how do you find out?). When using the Extreme II on this BMCC, I had dropped frames on both raw and DNxHD.

On a whim, I tried it on my second BMCC, which I had just bought used. The Extreme II appeared to work fine on this BMCC with no dropped frames in either raw or compressed. This BMCC was originally purchased in August, so it presumably had more recent firmware on it.

After updating the firmware on my original BMCC to 1.5.1, the Extreme II now appears to work fine with no dropped frames. I'm cautious, as I've only tested it for 20 minutes or so and have not used it for a full day of shooting. But, I found this interesting. Perhaps it explains why some people are getting dropped frames and others are not with the Extreme II's.

By the way, the shim works fine and SSD seems to fit fine in my BMCC, just as the shim on my 240 GB Kinston v+200 has worked for 8 months.

Jason Greene wrote:I know the Sandisk Extreme II's are not on the recommended list, so I'm not recommending anyone buy based on this report. Simply, I thought I'd share my experience with the Extreme II's.

I bought a 480 GB Extreme II SSD at a good price during a Cyber Monday sale, figuring I'd use it in my computer if it didn't work on my BMCC EFs.

Arrived a couple of days ago. I put it into my BMCC, which I had bought in March. This BMCC had its original firmware (v 1.2 or 1.3 - how do you find out?). When using the Extreme II on this BMCC, I had dropped frames on both raw and DNxHD.

On a whim, I tried it on my second BMCC, which I had just bought used. The Extreme II appeared to work fine on this BMCC with no dropped frames in either raw or compressed. This BMCC was originally purchased in August, so it presumably had more recent firmware on it.

After updating the firmware on my original BMCC to 1.5.1, the Extreme II now appears to work fine with no dropped frames. I'm cautious, as I've only tested it for 20 minutes or so and have not used it for a full day of shooting. But, I found this interesting. Perhaps it explains why some people are getting dropped frames and others are not with the Extreme II's.

By the way, the shim works fine and SSD seems to fit fine in my BMCC, just as the shim on my 240 GB Kinston v+200 has worked for 8 months.

very thanks to your info, i bought an extreme II 480gb ssd too... good to know about it

Toni Plutonij wrote:Jason Greene, from what I understood, 1.5.1 firmware updated does absolutely nothing to BMCC, it has only changes for Pocket cam, so it would be wise to test a bit more, prior to taking it on a job!

Thanks. However, my point wasn't specific to 1.5.1 compared with 1.5 or even 1.4. Rather, my point was that some very much earlier version (1.2 or 1.3) appeared to have been the culprit that resulted in dropped frames. I used 1.5.1 simply because I didn't have access to another version on BMD's website - v. 1.5.1 was all I could find. Presumably, 1.5.1 contains all of the added updates from earlier versions, apparently including some that affected compatibility with SSD's. Sorry if my post wasn't clearer on that point.

Jason Greene wrote:I know the Sandisk Extreme II's are not on the recommended list, so I'm not recommending anyone buy based on this report. Simply, I thought I'd share my experience with the Extreme II's.

I bought a 480 GB Extreme II SSD at a good price during a Cyber Monday sale, figuring I'd use it in my computer if it didn't work on my BMCC EFs.

Arrived a couple of days ago. I put it into my BMCC, which I had bought in March. This BMCC had its original firmware (v 1.2 or 1.3 - how do you find out?). When using the Extreme II on this BMCC, I had dropped frames on both raw and DNxHD.

On a whim, I tried it on my second BMCC, which I had just bought used. The Extreme II appeared to work fine on this BMCC with no dropped frames in either raw or compressed. This BMCC was originally purchased in August, so it presumably had more recent firmware on it.

After updating the firmware on my original BMCC to 1.5.1, the Extreme II now appears to work fine with no dropped frames. I'm cautious, as I've only tested it for 20 minutes or so and have not used it for a full day of shooting. But, I found this interesting. Perhaps it explains why some people are getting dropped frames and others are not with the Extreme II's.

By the way, the shim works fine and SSD seems to fit fine in my BMCC, just as the shim on my 240 GB Kinston v+200 has worked for 8 months.

very thanks to your info, i bought an extreme II 480gb ssd too... good to know about it

Seems to me one could find a suitable alternative without waiting for BM...

Respectfully, AnandTech's tests are not as reliable as BMD's validation of the devices on their cameras. There is no reliable substitute for the actual use on the camera as the characteristics of their tests reflect your usage in their cameras. Many SSDs make fine storage devices for use in general purpose computers but fail in the very demanding long streaming video writes and reads in a camera.

Seems to me one could find a suitable alternative without waiting for BM...

Respectfully, AnandTech's tests are not as reliable as BMD's validation of the devices on their cameras. There is no reliable substitute for the actual use on the camera as the characteristics of their tests reflect your usage in their cameras. Many SSDs make fine storage devices for use in general purpose computers but fail in the very demanding long streaming video writes and reads in a camera.

Rick LangSent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Respectfully, thats a croc.

I have been using ssd's that are not, and have not, been on BMDs list since Feb 2013 in my BMCC EF, without as much as one single dropped frame.

I chose them based on test sites similar to anandtech.

Its really not rocket science.

And people should shy away from taking advice from the "armchair" techs, who dont own, nor shoot with these cameras.

The spacer came included with my Sandisk Extreme II, even though it was not listed information. Again, the Extreme II is not on the official list of approved SSD's provided by BMD. My Extreme II works for me, but I only risked it because it was on sale at a price far below any of the approved SSD's. If you would pay the same for something on the approved list, I would suggest buying an approved SSD.

Regarding the dock, I have the Newer Technology Voyager S3 (USB 3.0 interface) and it works very well.

Seems to me one could find a suitable alternative without waiting for BM...

Respectfully, AnandTech's tests are not as reliable as BMD's validation of the devices ...

Rick LangSent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Respectfully, thats a croc.

I have been using ssd's that are not, and have not, been on BMDs list since Feb 2013 in my BMCC EF, without as much as one single dropped frame.

Its really not rocket science....

Theodore, I couldn't agree more. BM simply wants to limit bad feedback from pour SSD's which is fine and all but a measuring stick is a measuring stick and if any SSD that BM approaved is in a pack or below a pack of other SSD's in the multitude of various tests seen on that site, although admittedly write speeds seem the obvious for primary tests, that one would be safe in choosing an alternative.

aylwardm wrote:... BM simply wants to limit bad feedback from pour SSD's which is fine and all but a measuring stick is a measuring stick and if any SSD that BM approaved is in a pack or below a pack of other SSD's in the multitude of various tests seen on that site, although admittedly write speeds seem the obvious for primary tests, that one would be safe in choosing an alternative.

I'm glad to hear you are off the list and doing fine.

Thanks for your input.

What is the measuring stick in those benchmarks that convinces you an SSD will work? I think it is a write speed, but which write speed tests are convincing? I'm not offering any more advice but am curious what test by Anandtech you find most convincing?

The spacer came included with my Sandisk Extreme II, even though it was not listed information. Again, the Extreme II is not on the official list of approved SSD's provided by BMD. My Extreme II works for me, but I only risked it because it was on sale at a price far below any of the approved SSD's. If you would pay the same for something on the approved list, I would suggest buying an approved SSD.

Regarding the dock, I have the Newer Technology Voyager S3 (USB 3.0 interface) and it works very well.

Thanks Jason.

I want at least 480gb and from what i have searched there os no other good option.Im from Brazil and ir i import the tax will kill me.Since Im going to NY Its easier for me to buy in the BH store.

My doubt still is if it would be better to buy the 512gb from samsumg.

I bought 2 Sandisk ii 480 ssd's on cyber monday at a freakin' great price. I haven't opened them yet because I'm reading the forum about problems and others are say it's cool.

Is there a definitive YES OR NO shooting both RAW and dnxhd? These have been out a while, there must be more info out there. I'm reading there's a SPACER in the box that helps with the thickness of the SSD, but if you have first hand experience shooting paid work with the Sandisk ii 480, please let me know.

I don't want to be the guy who has to eat a day of shooting that might run 10k. Who can afford that, right?

Tony, could you guys at BM not simply contract one of the SSD makers to manufacture a series of SSDs to your specs? Like a 240 and 480? I know they would cost more than off the shelf, but it would simplify things and raise the reliability. (quite a bit)

sean mclennan wrote:Tony, could you guys at BM not simply contract one of the SSD makers to manufacture a series of SSDs to your specs? Like a 240 and 480? I know they would cost more than off the shelf, but it would simplify things and raise the reliability. (quite a bit)

I'd pay a premium for this. As long as it wasn't a RED level premium

They already exist for a small premium: check out Digistor.com's SSDs for the Black Magic Cinema Cameras.

Im from Pittsburgh. I ordered my BMCC (EF) from B&H without buying the SSD. Went to local best buy and picked up a TOSHIBA QSeries 128gb SSD. Comes with a shim. First couple times it worked great. However, if you plan to shoot in raw, hah good luck.

The cheap route gets you nowhere. It begins dropping frames after 4 seconds of recording. Now I need it for a shoot, and have to find an approved ssd.

If you're new to the SSD/BMCC world, listen to the experts in the forum. Do not buy without researching.